The festival, founded by Korean-Danish Adoptees focuses on Korea and Korean food culture and the meeting between Korean and Danish cuisine with the Korean national cuisine, kimchi, as the focal point.

Korean food is growing in popularity across the world and more and more people are becoming interested in its dishes and traditions, especially on the fermentation processes that are a key feature of Korean cuisine.

Denmark is no exception and we had the pleasure to visit the Kimchi Festival held in Copenhagen from the 24th until the 26th of June. The event, sponsored by the Republic of Korea Embassy in Denmark, OKF (overseas Koreans Foundation), KOTRA (Korea Trade investment Agency) and Korean adoptees association showcased many workshops and products, giving visitors the chance to experience Korean cuisine first hand.

At its fourth edition, “Copenhagen Kimchi Festival was created as a permanent platform to promote Korean food and culture in Denmark and to encourage mutual inspiration between the Korean and Danish/Nordic cuisine. It’s a non-profit event and it relies on volunteers, giving the change to people interested in Korean culture to meet and work together” says Kim Tonboe Jacobsen (Co-founder of Copenhagen Kimchi festival)

Visitors flocked to the festival since the morning of the first day, attracted by the great program, the location of the festival (in front of the famous Torvehallerne market in the heart of Copenhagen) by the sunny summer weather and by the mouthwatering fragrances coming from the many food stalls.

A deported Korean-American adoptee was found dead in an apparent suicide in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, officials said.

Phillip Clay, 42, was found dead around 11:40 p.m., Sunday, outside an apartment building in Ilsan, according to officials from Global Overseas Adoptees’ Link (G.O.A’.L), a non-governmental organization run by adoptees in Seoul.

While a police investigation is underway, surveillance camera footage reportedly showed he was alone in the elevator when he went up to the 14th floor of the building he jumped from, alluding to suicide.

The funeral was held at Myongji Hospital by Holt Children’s Services Inc in Korea. Around 30 people attended his funeral, including representatives from adoptee organizations such as KoRoot and Adoptee Solidarity Korea and the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

When Shin Song Hyuk was 3 years old, an American couple in Detroit adopted him and moved him from South Korea to the United States. His new family changed his name to Adam, but they didn’t fill out the forms guaranteeing citizenship for international adoptees. This meant Adam was in effect an undocumented immigrant.

Nobody knows how many international adoptees grow up undocumented due to negligence or clerical errors, but given the difficulties adopted children often have, many of them end up in trouble with the law, which can in turn lead to deportation to homelands they do not remember and cultures that are completely foreign to them.

As an adopted teenager, I think there is a fine line between being curious and being nosey, especially when it comes to personal issues such as adoption. Most kids will point out the obvious: “Oh, that girl/boy does not look like their parents, they must be adopted.” While many people will observe that I look nothing like my parents (observation skills 100+). To a certain point, the finger pointing and stares get up my grill.

I believe there is a certain etiquette and code of conduct, when it comes to being curious and asking a person about their personal life (in terms of being the adopted or foster child of that family).

Adoptive families benefit when parents continue to educate themselves on relevant issues related to adoption and access support when necessary. Many communities now have various support groups for all members of the adoption constellation. If your community doesn’t, why not start one?

Robyn Wells believed she went into the adoption of her Ethiopian son with eyes wide open. She and her husband Timothy, a police officer and Army veteran, who served two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan, brought Ben home when he was four years old. The Wells are white and live in Champaign, Illinois, a multi-cultural Big Ten university town and have gone to some effort to create a diverse environment for their son and three biological daughters. Wells knew that raising a black son wouldn’t always be easy. “I figured I’d have to explain some name-calling, have hard talks about language, navigate the waters when somebody’s parent won’t let my son take their daughter to prom,” she says. “But what I have been surprised by is this: At no point in the process of considering transracial adoption did I think I would have to teach my son how to stay alive.”